I’ve been cutting 🔪
Hey guys! Welcome to my blog.
For these posts, I’m going to be taking my previous month’s email newsletter and adapting it to a blog. That way, if you miss an email you can still get the goods, or if you want to look back on previous love notes without searching your email, now you can.
If you want to get the emails when they come fresh off the press, sign up for my email list here. When you sign up for the email newsletter, you’ll also be entered in a monthly raffle to win fun prizes like a zoom call with me, a magic hummingbird from Guatemala, a copy of my book, a free tshirt, and more.
Happy reading!
Photo by Corie Bigood at Lake Atitlan 2021
What’s inspiring me these days?
This may sound a little weird, but right now I’m inspired by destruction.
I have a metaphor, stick with me.
By “destruction” I mean the appropriate pruning or cutting away that you need to do to a plant in order to keep it healthy and in its most vibrant state of growth - to encourage its upward spiral of evolution.
Left on its own, some of a plant’s leaves can become yellowed and weak, and while those leaves are still attached the plant is sending energy there - even though it’s not really working.
When you cut away those unhealthy leaves, it frees up the plant’s energy to send to the leaves that are doing well and to grow new healthy leaves.
I’m inspired by this metaphor because I feel like I need to do the same thing to my life.
There are things that aren’t working and I can feel it.
Noticing what's not working and then honestly admitting it to yourself is the first step in this process. Then, we make the courageous move to remove, put a boundary around, or let something die that’s not working. This is a way we can take care of ourselves and practice self-love, because it frees up our energy for what is working and for what we’re actually excited about.
I get my energy back when I remove and/or protect myself from the things that aren’t aligned with my highest good.
What have I been up to lately?
You’ll notice I’m really into using gardening metaphors these days - that’s because I just finished a permaculture gardening course at my neighborhood farm, Granja Tzikin, which the new teaching organization they’ve started called Groundwork. This was such a great course for me. I went from knowing absolutely nothing about gardening to knowing SO MUCH, and most of all I came out of it feeling so empowered. Honestly, I just can’t wait to get started on my own garden!
You probably (maybe? hopefully?) know that I recently bought land here in Guatemala, where I’ve been living for about 2 and a half years now (crazy!), and I’m like a horse chomping at the bit and rearing to get going on this project....but for right now I need to practice patience.
I’m in a stage where I’m dreaming and visioning about what I want to grow and build, and spending my time and energy learning and collecting ideas and practices to help me do it.
I’m not yet in the place to put all of these ideas into practice yet, which is so frustrating because I just want to jump into action. Right now in this journey with my land I am being called to wait...much like the seed in the darkness brewing its magic underground.
So, I’m learning. As of today, I’ve taken a permaculture design course, a permaculture gardening course (info on the online versions below…keep reading), and in April 2022 I’m taking a natural building course with my friend Ashley, who I’ve hired to help me with my land design project.
So the work on my land right now is this inner work, learning and growing from within in order to become the person who can responsibility steward land and ultimately create and tend a really fantastic ecosystem that will feed me, my family, and my community in the future.
If you want to see some of the ideas I’ve put together of things I’m dreaming of for my land and home, you can check out my “Hummingbird Oaks” Pinterest board here. (which btw this was one of my first homework assignments from Ashley).
WHAT I recommend this month":
If you’re interested in learning about what I’m learning about - permaculture and gardening - from the folks I’ve been studying with - they just launched 2 fabulous online courses. And, they’ve given me a 10% discount code to offer you. Use Coupon “ERICALOVE” woo hoo! 🎉
One is SPROUT, an online gardening course, which is great for people who have some land and want ideas on what to do with it in a brilliant and earth-friendly way, for people who just have backyards where they want to start growing their own food, for anyone who really wants a practical approach on connecting with Nature, and definitely for anyone interested in learning about permaculture (something I’m a little obsessed with right now if you haven’t noticed hehe).
The other course DIRTY RICH and it’s all about composting, which is the key to your best garden, not to mention regenerating the earth and giving humans the chance at a better future. If you can learn how to do it yourself you won’t need to ever buy it, not to mention you’ll be harnessing a ton of your own energy and putting it back into the earth. That’s how we show our Mama Earth the love she deserves!
Use Coupon Code: ERICALOVE to get 10% off. Woo hoo! #winning
SPROUT: Gardening + Design: https://www.groundwork.life/sprout-online
DIRTY RICH: Composting Course: https://www.groundwork.life/dirty-rich
EARTH BUNDLE of them both: https://www.groundwork.life/earth-bundle
I ALSO recommend:
I’m really enjoying listening to this podcast by Sadhguru on the Joe Rogan Experience. He touches on so many topics that feel really important to me right now, like why turning our attention to saving our soil is key for our the health and future of humans on this planet (did you know that if modern farming continues the way it is, we may only have around 60 harvests left?), as well as how and why doing the right things (and what they are) can lead us from a life of darkness and misery to a life of joy and alignment. I guess that’s what’s truly inspiring me right now: taking the steps (including pruning) to bring ourselves into the highest alignment with what’s good and true for ourselves and consequently the bigger ecosystem of which we are all a part.
It’s My landiversary!
I can’t believe it’s already been ONE YEAR since I bought the land in Guatemala. Here’s a photo of me signing the land papers at the lawyer’s office in Panajachel on May 10, 2021. Woo hoo!
And here’s an aerial photo of my land! It’s about 1 acre of land. Isn’t she a gorgeous canvas?
On the left, you can see my neighbor David’s cabin, which is currently under construction.
I can’t wait to see how this view changes as we add structures, paths, and gardens...all in due time.
Stay tuned and remember, you can always check out where I am in the story of my land by tuning into my videos on my Facebook page, Instagram, or Youtube channel :)
ONE LAST THING…
If you want to support me with my land project - and to get more direct contact with me - then you can join my new subscriber group on Facebook for $10/mo. The "High Vibe Tribe" is a community of awesome, friendly, uplifting people (like you) who follow my videos and together we are sharing and striving to live our best life with the positive support of each other. We truly are a “high vibe” group.
We have a private Facebook group that is super positive and supportive, and every 2 weeks we do a zoom call meetup - which is a great chance to meet me (and each other), ask me any questions, and just generally get to know each other better.
I hope to see you there! 😃 ❤️ 🚀
Thank you for reading! I hope this blog helps you on your journey to the home within your heart.
Keep spreadin’ the love!
❤️
Erica
Ps - Here’s a photo of me and my sister when we were little kids living in New Delhi, India, and getting rad henna tattoos at a school fair. I love my sister’s squirrel fanny pack...omg :D
